Election Day
by a-fan.de
Summary: Auggie and Annie are standing in line at the polling place, waiting for their turn to cast their vote. Short piece for today's US presidential election.


_OK, this is only my 3rd published fanfic ever, the first in English and also the first for Covert Affairs. So please be kind ;)_

_I don't live in the US, so any description of the US voting system is based purely on what I could find on the net - and the proceedings inside the polling place are pretty much made up, based on the way things work in Germany. So it's possible I'm way off there. Sorry for that._

_Sadly I don't own Covert Affairs, Auggie Anderson or Annie Walker. Just playing with them until someone asks to have them back._

_And don't forget those reviews, please :)_

„Auggie, I'm all for exercising your right to vote, but I'm cold and there are at least another 20 people in line in front of us. I'm telling you, this is going to cost you once we're done here." Annie sighed while she looked around. Auggie and she had been standing outside the polling station for the last 15 minutes and her feet were getting cold. Who would've thought there'd be this many people this early in the morning.

„Don't worry, Walker, I promise to reward you with your favourite Starbucks coffee and a blueberry muffin. And a cinnamon roll to repay you for the gas." Her blind co-worker and friend winked at her. He had asked Annie to drive him to the poll to assist him and, being the good friend that she was, she agreed.

„What about you, anyway? We're here so early, no way you could have already voted before coming to my flat. And with our usual workload I somewhat doubt you'll be able to get it done before the voting closes tonight." He suddenly became stern. „You're not telling me you're not voting yourself, are you?"

„Good grief, are you kidding me, Auggie?" She stared at him as if he'd grown a second head. „You **do** know that job of ours does require a somewhat patriotic disposition. I bet the turnout at the office will be something like 99%, no one is gonna give it a miss. Apart from..." she whispered in his ear, trying not to attract the other voters' attention, „those few unlucky ones on last-minute business trips.

That's why I'm not on the way to my polling place, by the way. I somewhat feared that an unexpected visit to one of the more remote places of the world might come up, so I opted to vote by absentee ballot."

Over the course of their exchange, the line had moved a bit forward.

„Oh, I guess you're up soon, we're getting closer" Annie smiled. Maybe she would be able to get into a warm office space soon after all. Or at least into her car. „Whoever thought it would be a good idea to hold the election in November?"

„Do you really want to know?" Auggie quizzed her.

„Oh God, you do know this, right? Why did I even ask?" she rolled her eyes.

„Well, thanks for your interest in your country's political history, Miss Walker." he grinned, leaning both hands on his cane and going into his best 'teacher mode'. „So, it all comes down to some people sitting down together and trying to decide what would work best, of course." Auggie started. „When congress was trying to determine a date for future presidential elections in 1845, they decided it had to happen after harvest season, so no one had to miss out because of farm duties. Also before winter, to make sure everyone could attend without getting stuck in knee-deep snow in the West Virginia Mountains. Cause I tell you, Annie dearest, you having to stand here in a cool breeze is nothing compared to what those people had to go through to cast their votes. After all there usually wasn't a polling station right around the corner, you had to go to your county capital at least. So, where was I? Oh yes, so between harvest season and winter, making November the ideal candidate. And it's always on a Tuesday, because..."

„ - ok, stop it right there, Auggie." Annie laughed and punched him lightly in the shoulder. „That's more politics and history than I'm able to handle before I had my coffee.

And we can finally enter the building anyway. Come on." She lightly touched the back of his hand, and he grabbed on to her arm.

Once they were inside, they were approached by an election officer. „Good morning, Mam. Sir. Are you registered voters?"

„We both are" Auggie answered, but only I am here to vote right now. Annie's gonna have to assist me, though." He tapped his cane onto the floor.

„I see. I'll need to see your voter registration card, please." Auggie handed him the piece of paper. After checking it, the officer made a sign next to Auggie's name on a list, then handed the card back to him. „That's fine, Mr. Anderson. I can hand you a paper ballot if you'd like your friend to assist you, or if you want you can use one of the accessible voting machines."

Auggie was surprised. „Oh, I didn't know you had those here."

„It's the first time we're actually using them, but the system's been tested in other states before, and they all were very happy with it."

Auggie turned to his friend with an apologetic face. „Annie, I know I dragged you out here this early, but if you don't mind, I really would like to try out the voting machine."

She smiled. „Perfectly fine by me. Come on, I'll take you over there."

Only a few minutes later Auggie and Annie left the polling place arm in arm. The officer had been right, the voting machine had worked just fine and Auggie had been able to make his choice without any assistance for the first time since his injury. Not that he minded having a friend or family member help him out, but somehow it felt right to _really_ vote in secret. He smiled.

„What are you so happy about?" Annie inquired.

„Only thinking about what a privilege this is." He replied. „Being able to help deciding your country's future by making a choice. Feels good."

„Yeah, you're right. Feels good."

„And..." He grinned „You get a fashionable sticker to show off. At least I hope it doesn't clash with my shirt colour." Auggie had put his 'I voted' sticker on his coat lapel.

„Looks perfect. But why did you put it upside down?"

„I didn't..." Auggie started, wanting to argue that after all she had put it into his hand with instructions which way to put it, then stopped. „Oooh, that's evil, Walker, making fun of the blind guy."

„Just taking my revenge for having to get up at 5pm and then being left to stand around uselessly in the polling place." she giggled. „So, who did you vote for anyway?"

„That, Miss Walker, is need to know." he smirked. "Come on, I think you did earn that coffee this morning."


End file.
